Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 13 December 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Shoplifting: Discussion

Mr. Vincent Jennings:

Relating to consistency, that is what it requires more than anything else. The Chair would know only too well that what we had in Limerick was good. There were four gardaí on mountain bikes and it worked ever so well. All the retailers knew them. They were on top of issues ever so quick. Then it was pulled. It was a successful programme, but it was pulled.

For many years, the oil industry and the company that operated chose not to report drive-offs in any big way and then they realised they were not doing themselves any favour. Now there is a consistent policy that all drive-offs are reported and it has had an effect. Reporting, most certainly, on a macro- and on a micro-level, really helps. We need to help in the situation here as well.